Texas Air National Guardsman is a hero to Houston woman

Marie Decker found herself trapped inside her vehicle after it crashed on Beltway 8 and flipped on its side earlier this month at the toll plaza at Wayside Drive.

Her guardian angels appeared out of nowhere and pulled her from the wreckage. Moments later, the vehicle burst into flames.

Last week, Decker finally got a chance to meet and personally thank one of the men who rescued her from the wreckage — Staff Sgt. Mitchell Corbin of the Texas Air National Guard.

“I don’t think I could ever stop thanking you,” Decker told Corbin in an interview on Houston’s KTRK-TV. “You have no idea what you’ve done for me. You’ve given me a second chance with my family and my life and I will be forever grateful.”

The two shared a tearful embrace.

Decker was traveling on the Beltway on June 1 when she lost control and the vehicle crashed as it passed through the toll plaza at Wayside Drive about 11 a.m.

Corbin was running a few errands with a friend before a trip out of town when he saw the wrecked vehicle and pulled over to help.

Sgt. Mitchell Corbin (Texas Air National Guard)

“We could hear the lady frantically screaming that she’s still in here,” Corbin told chron.com on Tuesday. “At that moment, that’s when I realized I had to get out and help.”

Corbin hopped on the overturned vehicle and tried to reach the driver, but the window was up and the door was locked. Another motorist arrived with a metal tool and broke out the rear window, but they could not reach far enough inside the vehicle to unlock the front passenger door, he said.

“As a last resort, a guy came up with a fire extinguisher and we broke out the passenger window,” Corbin said. “I looked inside and said, ‘Ma’am, give me your hands’ and we picked her up.”

Moments later, the vehicle burst into flames. Corbin stayed long enough to administer first aid to the victim, then headed off to the airport for his flight to Ohio to see his family and girlfriend.

“It was definitely something good for us to connect and to put the pieces together,” Corbin said of his meeting with Decker. “She was confused on how she was in the hospital. It was good for me to know that she was alright. I’m just glad to help and that my timing was quick enough.”

Corbin praised the other men for jumping in to help rescue the motorist, who suffered a concussion and a broken heel in the crash.

“There are other good-hearted citizens out there,” he said. “It was just the fact that I acted on it (situation) quickly that I got the recognition.”

Officials at the Texas Air National Guard had nothing but praise for Corbin as well.

“Without regard for his own safety, (he) quickly assessed the situation, developed a rescue plan and went into action,” according to a press release issued by the Texas Air National Guard. “Using skills he acquired in the military, (Corbin) administered first aid and stabilized the victim until paramedics arrived on the scene.”

Corbin, who joined the Texas Air National Guard in 2005, is a technician for the 147th Reconnaissance Wing, located at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston.